In an effort to further bolster their bullpen, the New York Mets signed free agent reliever Jared Hughes. Hughes will be added to the Mets’ 60 man player-pool, which now stands at 51, after Tuesday’s signing.

Hughes, who will turn 35 on July 4, has spent nine years in the majors. The tall, right-hander has pitched for Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Philadelphia and owns a respectable career 2.88 ERA.

His best year was in 2018 with the Reds. He appeared in 72 games and pitched to a 1.94 ERA.

Unfortunately, his worst year was last year, pitching for the Reds and Phillies, where is ERA ballooned to 4.04. The problem was, in part, the gopher ball, as Hughes allowed 13 home runs which is nearly twice as many as in any prior campaign.

Hughes’ go to pitch has always been the sinker but had difficulty with that pitch in 2019. Prior to last year, he had been known as an effective reliever, with former manager Clint Hurdle calling him a “fireman” as Hughes would come into a difficult situation and douse a rally with a double-play ball more times than not.

Known as a ground ball specialist, Hughes always was above the league average in inducing the ground ball. The league average rate is roughly 43 percent, Hughes’ rate has ranged from 56.3 percent to 65.5 percent during his career.

When he ran into difficulty last year, Hughes decided to seek out science for help. He enlisted the help of  Burton Smith, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University. Together they used the off-season and quarantine time to look at Hughes’ delivery focusing on spin rotation, release point and other aerodynamic factors to re-find the lost sinker. The Athletic has a detailed article on Smith’s work with Hughes here.

Hughes believes the revamped slider will be a put-away pitch for him. “I still have the ability to do (get grounders),” he said, “but I want to have a strikeout pitch in the tank as well. I think I’ve got the ability to do it now.”

Later on Tuesday, the details of Hughes’ contract with the Mets were disclosed. According to Anthony DiComo from MLB.com, Jared Hughes‘ contract is worth a pro-rated $700,000. If a full season is played, he will make roughly $260,000.

Putting last year aside, Hughes has otherwise been quite good out of the bullpen. The Mets should give him ample opportunity to see if his new delivery yields results.